Down to Tartarus
by 7fanatic
Summary: Percy and Annabeth are now in Tartarus, where Gaea is growing more awake than ever. Trying to find their way across the Underworld, they find themselves in Gaea's hands. Meanwhile, the other 5 demigods are on their way to the Doors of Death. Finding their way to the House of Hades might be harder than they thought! Narrated by Percy and Annabeth, this epic Tartarus story is told!
1. Worse than we thought

** Annabeth was terrified. **Falling wasn't the hard part, though. In fact, the fall was much quicker than she thought, and between the force of the pit dragging them down and their weight pulling them faster, they had plenty of speed. Percy still had her hand, and she could feel him grip tighter so as to not let her out of his sight. She still couldn't believe he'd let go of the ledge. Y_ou're not getting away from me again, _he'd said. _Never again._ Annabeth wasn't losing him again either. She would have never asked him to risk himself like that, but to think he'd let go just to be with her? Annabeth couldn't think of any words to describe how she'd felt.

The light was starting to fade from the top, and Annabeth could see the ground below her, getting closer by the second. She shifted herself, prepared for impact, and _THUD!, _she hit the ground like a rock in the sand. Probably because she'd landed in actual _sand, _but that didn't stop any pain she felt. As soon as she stopped falling, she felt like she'd fallen in a pile of sharp, pointy rocks, jabbing her skin and making it harder for her to get up. The sand was rough, littered with small black shells and chunks of-was that bone? Yes, it looked like small fish bone, as if the entire landscape had recently been covered by a cold, filthy sea. Annabeth sat straight up, despite how it hurt her ankle, and looked to her left side to see what looked like Percy a few yards away. How they'd been blown apart, she wasn't sure, but she could remeber some sort of solid hitting them in the wrist, causing her to let go. She crawled across the small dune seperating them and hurried towards Percy. "Oh, gosh, Percy, what happened?" she spoke to herself. He was out cold, with a huge bruise on his right cheek and above his right eye. He had small cuts under his jaw, and his right arm-oh, his arm was bent the wrong direction, and definately broken. _But he landed on his left side, _she figured in her head. _How could the opposite side be hurt so badly? _The side of him in the sand looked fine, with no damage. But his right... _What hit him? _she wondered. She couldn't think straight, which was not good for her. Here they were, in the black of Tartarus, somewhere in a desert, and Percy was injured badly. How was she supposed to do this? All of her training at Camp Half-Blood left her in a time of need, and she wasn't even sure what she was afraid of. Then she remembered the thing the knocked them apart. It had barely hit her wrist, so it couldn't have been focusing on her. It must have been going for "Percy," she said aloud, "What was that?"


	2. Trapped in the Abyss

**Percy tried to wake up. **The whole time he was out, he was telling himself to open his eyes and get with the world already. He still wasn't sure what had happened. It went something like this:

They had been falling rapidly, and soon Percy could see the bottom. As they were nearing the ground, he suddenly felt a shiver down his spine, almost as if..._WHAM! _Something hit his right side as hard as possible. It had felt sort of like the back of a hand, or a fist, but Percy was sure that had just been his imagination. A sharp pain suddenly went through his right arm, and stayed there, getting worse by the second. His whole right side felt like it had snapped in half. His arm certainly had. Then the "hand" pushed him to the ground, pinning him down, flipped him over to his left side, and was gone as soon as it had come. His entire body ached from the impact, and he could feel cold sand beneath him. He tried to sit up, but his arm was screaming. He laid back down and felt his face (with his left hand, of course) and pulled his hand away bloody. His mind started shutting down, and he willed himself to stay awake. _You can NOT black out, _he told himself. _Not now. You have to find Annabeth! _But of course, his brain refused to listen, and the last thing he registered was blood running down his face, the fire in his arm, and the rough sand underneath him.

Now, he was fighting against the pain, just trying desperately to wake up, trying to regain consciousness. He wasn't even sure if Annabeth was anywhere near him, and he did NOT just fall into Tartarus to be separated from her again. Despite being unconscious, he could feel his arm searing hot with agony, and faint noises in his ear- wait! Noises? A dim light started seeping through his eyelids, and a soft voice whispering, "_Percy, oh Percy, please wake up!" _It sounded like...he opened his eyes completely, to see Annabeth leaning above him. Her hair was strewn wildly over her shoulders, her clothes covered with sand, and her expression scared and frightened, but to Percy, she'd never looked better. They looked to be in the middle of a frigid desert, lit only by the light of the moon. Percys arm was still flaming, but he tried not to show it. Annabeth looked freaked out enough already.

She whispered, "Percy? Oh gosh, I - I am so sorry! This wouldn't have happened if - if I hadn't - its my fault, I'm- I'm so sorry!" She was obviously trying to stay calm, but tears streaked down her face, creating trails through the dust on her cheek. Percy managed to speak, but it hurt his cheek to move his jaw, "Annabeth, this isnt your fault. I'm the one who let go." He tried not to groan too much, but he still sounded like he was in pain. Annabeth attempted a weak smile, but when she heard the croak of his voice, she lost the small bit of cheeriness. "No, if I had just cut the webbing off, then we wouldn't have to be here. You wouldn't have had to pull me up, we-" Percy cut her short, "That wasn't your fault. And I wasn't going to let you go again. Everything will be fine. I mean, we survived, right?" He tried to sit up, but Annabeth wouldn't let him.

"Don't sit up. You'll just hurt yourself even more. You got hit pretty hard. Your arm is definitely broken. I think I can help it, if-" She turned around, as if expecting to find something sitting there, but then she remembered, "I lost my back pack back up there. I completely forgot. It had fallen down before, you know, we did. I wonder..." She didn't complete her thought though, but turned around and crawled across a series of small sand dunes. She exclaimed, "I can't believe it, it's here!" she hurried back, dragging her back pack behind her. For a moment, Percy wondered why she was crawling, but then he remembered: Annabeth had hurt her ankle back at the top. He felt even worse than before. Not only was he hurt, but Annabeth wasn't doing so hot either.

Annabeth looked through her back pack and brought out a small canteen and Ziploc bag, spools of thread, gauze, (why Annabeth didn't use that before, Percy didn't know) and lots more supplies. She tore open the Ziploc bag and shook out a few little square crackers. _Ambrosia. _Annabeth spoke in a hushed tone, "Here, take these. They'll help." Percy obeyed, but he wouldn't let her go unattended to. He sat up all the way, and didn't let his arm hurt him anymore. "You're hurt too. Surely your ankle isnt healed. We won't be able to go anywhere until you can walk again." Annabeth looked grim, "I'm fine, you're the one who broke his arm in half!" Percy leaned over to see Annabeth's foot. It was still wrapped in the spare bubble wrap, but the cast was falling apart, revealing her swollen ankle. "Yeah, I'm not convinced." Percy said, "It looks like we're gonna be stuck for a while. Meanwhile..." He picked up the gauze and thread, "Let's try and fix ourselves up."


	3. Not Going Anywhere

**Annabeth was worried, guilty, and confused. **When she found Percy, she had seen just how bad it hurt him. But worse, he wasn't waking up. How long since they'd hit? Five or ten minutes? More? Less? Annabeth wasn't sure, but she knew he should have woken up by now. Blood continued gushing from the cuts on his cheek, his arm limp beside him. She hated to say it, but Annabeth wasn't even sure if he was breathing. Was he...? No. She wouldn't even think about that. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Annabeth had been trying to stay strong, so as not to freak herself out, but she couldn't let something like this go that easily. She started to cry, silent tears streaming down her cheek, "Percy, oh Percy, please wake up!" she whispered softly. Definately more than ten minutes now, but only a few moments after she had spoken, Percy opened his eyes.

Absolute relief washed over her, but along with it came feelings of guilt. How could she have let this happen? She shouldn't have let go of his hand, shouldn't have been near the ledge in the first place, shouldn't have even gone on that stupid quest. She should have gotten rid of the web, should have just let go of the ledge on her own. Maybe if she had, Percy wouldn't be down here, near dead, and blacked out. "Percy? Oh gosh, I - I am so sorry! This wouldn't have happened if - if I hadn't - its my fault, I'm- I'm so sorry!" She tried not to stutter as she spoke, but her sobs won her over. She didn't want him to, but Percy spoke, "Annabeth, this isnt your fault. I'm the one who let go." He groaned when he talked, as if it hurt just to speak. She tried a small smile to hide how worried she was, but it was lost again after only a moment or two. And she was not going to let him accept the blame for something she got them into, "No, if I had just cut the webbing off, then we wouldn't have to be here. You wouldn't have had to pull me up, we-" Percy cut her short, "That wasn't your fault. And I wasn't going to let you go again. Everything will be fine. I mean, we survived, right?" He tried to sit up, but Annabeth wouldn't let him.

"Don't sit up. You'll just hurt yourself even more. You got hit pretty hard. Your arm is definitely broken. I think I can help it, if-" She turned around to unzip her back pack, then remembered, "I lost my back pack back up there. I completely forgot. It had fallen down before, you know, we did. I wonder..." If it had fallen down before them, would it not be only a few yards from where they sat? She perked up, looked around, and spotted a black lump a few sand dunes away. Could it be...? She turned around and scurried toward her back pack, still crawling because of her ankle, and looked at the object more closely. Yes, it was indeed her back pack! She exclaimed, "I can't believe it, it's here!" She grabbed the handle and started dragging it behind her.

She unzipped the second to largest pocket, and brought out her nectar, ambrosia, and-she didn't remember bringing gauze, but there was some in there too. And it was thick enough to make a temporary cast. She put it with the nectar and ambrosia that she'd brought. She sure was glad she brought it all, now. She zipped up that pocket and unzipped the largest, where she had her spools of thread she'd found up above. She was desperate, but that was all she thought would help right now. She then tore open the Ziploc of ambrosia and took out a few squares. She gave them to Percy, specifically in his left hand, and said, "Here, take these. They'll help." He did, but then sat up, even though he wasn't supposed to, and said,"You're hurt too. Surely your ankle isnt healed. We won't be able to go anywhere until you can walk again." It was as if he'd spoken her thoughts. Not only was Percy injured, but her ankle was still swollen and the bubble wrap had started to unwrap. She tried to hide it, "I'm fine, you're the one who broke his arm in half!" she joked, but Percy was obviously serious. He leaned over to look at her bubble wrapped foot, but Annabeth didn't dare tuck it behind her for fear of breaking it again. "Yeah, I'm not convinced." Percy said, "It looks like we're gonna be stuck for a while. Meanwhile..." He picked up the gauze and thread, "Let's try and fix ourselves up."

As they took turns handling the gauze or nectar, Annabeth felt even worse. Percy had a broken arm, Annabeth had a sprained ankle, and they were trapped in the middle of Tartarus. If she hadn't gotten herself hurt back up above on the quest, then the situation would be a bit better. At least they wouldn't have to haul her useless self along. While Percy finally allowed her to stop his bleeding cuts with a small bit of gauze (that was all they had, and she was desperate) she talked to him. It seemed like everything since the fall had been disastrous. She just needed a quiet moment with her Seaweed Brain, "You know, between crying and feeling guilty, I don't think I ever got the chance to say thank you." Percy looked confused, "For what? Killing myself on the way down?" There was a hint of humor in his voice, but Annabeth could tell he felt bad for breaking his arm. She wouldn't let him feel guilty like that. She slowly said, "No, for letting go with me. I would have never asked you to do something like that. If you hadn't taken that risk, I don't even know what would have happened to me." It sounded stupid, and Annabeth knew it, but with a twinge of sorrow, thanks, and even hope, she knew it would mean more than it sounded. Percy smiled his trouble maker smile and said, "Don't even think about facing this alone. I'll be with you the whole way." That hit it home. Annabeth couldn't help smiling, and one more tear traced down her cheek. This one wasn't out of guilt or worry, but out of relief. She remembered up above, before the Argo II came, she'd been convinced she was going to die. That she would never see Percy again. But then she realized he had never really left her. The whole time she was on her quest, up until Arachne finally fell, the very thought of Percy kept her sane, kept her strong. _"I'll be with you the whole way." _she replayed in her mind. _Down to Tartarus and back again._


	4. Lost in the Dark

**Percy had a reason to smile, **despite having fallen into Tartarus, breaking his arm on the way down, and not having any sort of plan, of course. After all, he and Annabeth were still alive, and Percy planned to keep it that way. Annabeth had seemed pretty freaked out about the whole thing, so when she had smiled at what he'd said, Percy relieved. Maybe, just maybe, this would all work out and she wouldnt have to feel so much pressure constantly. After all, the Titan war had only been a year ago, even if it had seemed way longer. This had been pretty bad timing for Gaea to come and try to take over the world. Since then, Annabeth had seemed like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and Percy couldn't stand to see her like that. Now, they were in the middle of a desert in the Underworld, with no clue where to go or what to do. You can see why they would be feeling stress.

But there was one thing they had to figure out, however: What exactly hit him? Percy didn't tell Annabeth his suspicions, but his first thought was eidolons. They were invisible (if not possessing someone) and were just as powerful as any other spirit. Plus, this was Tartarus-_anything _could be down here. But no, it couldn't have been, since eidolons weren't exactly solid. What else could it have been? It had felt like the back of someone's hand, not a whole body. Meanwhile, they had other things to worry about. The only supplies that Percy and Annabeth had were a back pack and a sword. That was it. Plus, they couldn't exactly go anywhere until Annabeth's ankle healed, and between bubblewrap, ambrosia, and time, they had about a week before her foot was okay to walk on. And even if they were okay to travel, it would be difficult seeing how the only light came from the moon. So they were stuck for a little while, and since it's nothing but night in the Underworld, time was hard to track. Percy estimated it had been about a day since they'd fallen through the hole, and with nothing else to do but wait, they talked and thought and tried to figure things out.

Annabeth explained more of what happened on her quest, including breaking her ankle, to Percy. He listened to everything she had to tell him, with the occassional comment, and by the end of her story, he regretted letting her go alone even more. I mean, death traps, bridges made of thread, and colossal spiders? Why should she have to face all of that alone? Not to mention they could have escaped their current situation, but Percy didn't mention that part. Also, Annabeth thought it would be a good time to figure out what had happened to Percy as they fell. Percy explained what he felt like had hit him, and Annabeth just sat and listened. You could almost see all the gears in her head turning, going at the speed of light, trying to sort everything out. After a few minutes of thinking, Annabeth spoke, "I think I know what it was, or should I say _who_ it was. It was Gaea herself." "What? How? Isn't she still asleep?" Percy asked. "Yes, but that's just it. That's why I felt so terrible about the fall." With this, Annabeth spoke slowly and more seriously, "You see, Tartarus is under the Earth, right? Well, that makes it Gaea's territory. Her power here is even stronger than it would be on the surface." She paused, as if to figure out how to explain something, then said, "Since we're inside the Earth, Gaea could probably squash us like bugs any time she wanted to, as if she were fully awake. She hit you across the desert, picked you up, pinned you to the spot, flipped you over like a rag doll, and left. That probably still took a lot of her power though, and she wouldn't be able to do much more than that for a month. But still..." Another pause, "That's why I felt so horrible about your arm. I knew it was Gaea. I could almost hear her laughing at me for letting you let go. I've put us in too much danger now." She stopped there. Percy was shocked. Annabeth certainly made sense, but it was still a scary thought to think that Gaea, the supposedly sleeping Earth goddess could do that. But none of that could be changed now, and Percy didn't exactly want to linger on the subject, so he changed it.

Now it was Annabeth's turn to listen again as Percy told her about their battle with the twin giants, Ephialtes and Otis. When he got to the part about the battle in the Colosseum, Annabeth gasped, "What? Like, the Colosseum? It repaired itself? All the original architecture and everything?" Percy smiled. For once, it was good to hear Annabeth being all Athena-ish about architecture. She was herself again, not the scared one she'd been before. "Yeah, the stage and walls and emperor's box looked brand new. With banners, and actual seats, and there were thousands of Lares in the audience." She looked fascinated, so he answered all her questions, and with every second Annabeth started looking happier, more at ease. The worry dissolved from her expression and was replaced by interest and excitement. Percy went on to describe the battle, and by time they'd both shared their stories completely, they guessed it was almost the end of day two.

What was interesting about the Underworld was that Percy and Annabeth never got tired, or hungry, or anything else. Everything was always the same, all day long, day after day after day. They guessed that was probably because it was the land of the dead, so nothing like that ever occured there, nor did anything really change. After day three, four, five, six, and seven finally passed (or at least they thought it had) they began to put away the few belongings they had in the back pack. Annabeth didn't dare take more ambrosia or nectar, since she'd been taking it all week, so instead they tested Annabeth's foot. When it was deamed supportable, they set off in the dark, and even though they had more direction than before, they were still very lost.


	5. Escaping the Goddess

**Annabeth was feeling reasonably better, **but the fact that an evil Earth controlling goddess was after her to spill her blood on some ancient stones could really affect a person. Just saying. After seven days of racking her brain and trying to get better so she and Percy could move on, she had figured out a few things. One, they would not need to sleep, eat, or drink for a little while since they never got tired or hungry, which was good because they wouldn't be able to anyway. And two, Gaea could catch them any second if she wanted to (which she probably did). Not the best thoughts to start a world threatening quest through the dark void of Tartarus, but none of that mattered. All that mattered now was that they made it through the desert and reached the Doors of Death. After all of this, Annabeth almost forgot why they were down here in the first place: to find and close the Doors. As they trudged through the desert, not stopping once (since they never got tired), Annabeth started thinking about Gaea. They always had to be prepared for any kind of attack, and even if Gaea had used most of her power already, she could still hurt them pretty badly. A few times they had the ground start swirling into quicksand beneath their feet, or sinkholes open up not inches away. Twice, a bizarre sandstorm acted up about a mile away from them, and they had to run to escape it before it could get any closer. Gaea obviously wanted them in her evil clutches, and she tried hard to make sure that happened.

The journey certainly wasn't quiet though, even when they weren't running from Gaea's traps. So many times they saw all kinds of monsters, some that even Annabeth had never heard of before. Most of them just sat a mile or so away and stared at Percy and Annabeth as they walked past. Whats the point of messing with half bloods if youre already dead? But some of the time, the monster would run at them and attack. Let's just say it's hard to kill a monster that's already dead, especially when you have exactly one sword and a back pack that contains no weapons. Annabeth had found Daedalus's laptop inside the back pack, but unfortunately couldn't find her bronze knife. She had dug through the sand near their campsite, and had found nothing. And since Percy had broken his sword-arm, it would be difficult for him to fight. Despite the ambrosia and nectar, Percy's arm had shown little improvement so far. Instead, they escaped any pursuing monsters by out running whatever it was until it was out of sight. Fortunately, though, they didn't come across any Titans, giants, or anything that difficult. _ At least not yet, _Annabeth thought. She shook the thought from her head. She had to focus, think of some sort of strategy. They couldn't just keep improvising forever. They needed an actual plan, or they would never reach the Doors in time. What if they eventually reached the edge of the desert and ended up on the opposite side of Tartarus than they were supposed to be on? What if they _never _reached the end? There were so many possible ways they could fail, and they could only pray to succeed in their quest.

Annabeth kept wondering, what was going on with the Argo II up there? Were they any closer to the Doors? Farther away? Already there? She couldn't even guess. She wasn't even sure how time worked in the Underworld. Finally, Annabeth couldn't stand it any longer, "How do you think they're doing up there?" Annabeth asked Percy. He looked at her and asked, "Who?" "Who else, Seaweed Brain? Nico, Jason, those guys. How do you think they're doing?" Percy thought for a second, then answered, "Hopefully, they're almost to the doors, defeating monsters, not getting killed, et cetera." Annabeth laughed and said, "Well, I hope they're okay, not being hunted by Romans, not dead, et cetera." this time they both laughed, for the first time since they had been talking about the Colosseum. It felt good to laugh, to smile, to be as happy as she'd been nine months ago. Before everything had started to go wrong again, before Percy disappeared...Now, with the problems at hand, all of that seemed to be unimportant. Everything had changed.

It had been too long, too quiet. Percy and Annabeth hadn't seen, heard, or been chased by anything for a while, now. Not that she was complaining, but it was starting to worry her. Wouldn't they have seen something by now? She had barely thought it when the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Percy seemed to notice it too. They quickly broke into a run, but the quake seemed to be right underneath them wherever they ran. The Earth started trembling so badly they fought to keep standing. Then the ground around them exploded, showering sand and the mysterious black shells everywhere. When the dust cleared, there was a small ring of really deep craters, fencing them in. Climbing out of the craters were twenty or so Earthborn. Jason had told Annabeth about when they fought the Earthborn on their quest to free Hera, but he had said they barely defeated six Earthborn. How could she and Percy handle twenty on their own? _Gaea's stronger than I thought,_ Annabeth thought, _conjuring up so many at once. _Cornered and weaponless, Annabeth and Percy were caught in the midst of the monsters.


	6. An Awesome Discovery!

**Percy was out of ideas. **He had never seen these kinds of monsters before, didn't know what they were, or how they could be defeated. Now, encircled by what looked like more than twenty, he couldn't fight and they were stuck, with nowhere to turn. Annabeth stepped back, then whispered to Percy, "These are Earthborn, another race of Gaea's children. Jason said something about them on their quest to the Wolf House, but I never imagined so many could appear at once." She turned around and backed up to Percy, positioning herself so as to confront the monsters. She'd sounded slightly worried, but Percy could hear the bravery in her voice. He knew that she'd lost her knife, and he could never use his sword well enough with his left hand, or at least not well enough to defeat the Earthborn. They couldn't battle their way out of this one, and escaping didn't seem to be an option here. Percy would have to formulate a plan some other way. Suddenly, the small patch of land they'd been standing on started to shrink into a smaller space as the Earthborn closed in. The craters were getting larger as even more Earthborn climbed out, as if there weren't enough already. With the widening of the holes, their standing ground was getting smaller and smaller. _This can't get any worse. _Percy thought as the Earthborn got closer. They were running out of time as the monsters made their way toward them.

Percy looked at the ground they were standing on. It was so much different from the dirt and soil up above, whereas here it was more like a kind of sand. But it wasn't really sand either, at least not like the kind on the coast of Long Isand Sound. It seemed a bit more damp and worn away, like it had recently been covered by ocean. _Ocean. _Percy bent down and picked up the small black shells in his hand. It reminded him of somewhere else he'd been...yes! They were just like the ones at Geryon's ranch a few summers ago when they had journeyed into the Labyrinth. He had caused seawater to spout from the shells, only because they'd once been part of the sea. Those shells had been white, but could these black shells help them the same way? A plan started forming in his head, and he turned toward Annabeth, "I think I have an idea, but I'll need you to take my sword." "What?" she asked. Percy slipped his hand in his pocket, pulled Anaklusmos out, and slid it into Annabeth's hand. She took it and shifted it in her hand. "I'm not sure what you want me to do with this." She muttered. There was no time to explain, so all he could say was, "Just be ready, and stay away from the edge!"

The plan wasn't even all the way formed yet, but Percy would just have to try. They didn't exactly have too many other options at the moment. He reached down to the ground again, this time more quickly. The Earthborn were closing in faster, and it got noisier with the rumbling of them approaching. Percy grabbed a handful of sand, and turned around to Annabeth, "Grab as much sand as you can, and toss it into the cracks between the Earthborn." Together they tossed handfuls of sand peppered with the black shells into the holes as fast as they could. Percy tried to tell how many they'd thrown down, and when he'd decided there were enough, he shouted over the noise, "Get back as far from the edge as you can!" Annabeth ran toward the center of what land they had left to join Percy. The Earthborn were on the same platform as them now. _It's now or never. _

Percy concentrated and prayed that his plan would work. He started to imagine the shells spouting water like in the Labyrinth, except for even larger and more powerful. At first, it didn't work, and Percy hesitated. Then suddenly weak spots appeared in the ground and the pillars started to break. The fractures widened and water started to spout out of them, and within seconds, whole entire geysers were shooting from the desert ground. The ground exploded, and the Earthborn were swept off their feet. Waves of sea water gushed from the fissures in the platforms, and the rock was split into pieces and were swept away with the Earthborn. Now there was just an over flowing trench, rising higher and higher. All of this happened in about fifteen seconds, and suddenly everything had been caught in a hurricane. Then, all at once, Percy realized that the same thing was happening to the ground they were standing on; small cracks had appeared at his feet.

He tried to imagine the water flowing around them, but the cracks just continued to grow larger. It was too late to stop the flow now. If only there was some way to separate them from the main chunk of rock..."Annabeth, in the cracks!" Annabeth turned around and immediately understood him. She uncapped Anaklusmos, raised it high in the air, and drove it into the largest crevice. The fissure detached from the main chunk of rock and the rest of the platform was swept away. The only thing holding them up now was sheer luck. Percy ran over where Annabeth was still crouched at the ground, "We need to get off somehow, or we'll be swept away!" Annabeth looked up and called out, "I can't! It's stuck!" She tried to tug at the sword, but it wouldn't budge. There was no time. They would be picked up by the waves any second. Instead, Percy ran over and crouched down beside her, "I think I have an idea."

"Anything would be nice, right about now."

"We're going to hold on and let the water crash down on us."

"What?!"

It was bizarre, and Percy knew it, but he knew it would work, "Trust me, and hold on tight!" Annabeth gripped the sword handle even tighter than before. Percy wrapped his arm around her waist to make sure she didnt fall off of the rock, and held to the handle with the other hand. The tsunami was feet above their heads, "Get ready..." and _CRASH!, _the tidal wave drenched them, sending them plunging into the ocean, into the darkness. When they resurfaced moments later, the force of the explosion sent them racing across the newly formed sea. Speeding along the surface, half under and half above the water, they reached the edge in a matter of minutes. They slowed at the edge of the water, their raft eroded and destroyed, and came onto the first dry land they'd seen for miles. It had been a chaotic ride, but they had finally reached the edge of the once desert.


	7. Gone Again

**Annabeth was amazed. **Sure, she'd seen Percy control water plenty of times before, but here in the Underworld? She had been sure his powers wouldn't work down here. But here they were, on the brink of Tartarus, and somewhat alive. She also couldn't believe how fast Percy had planned everything out. Annabeth was usually the one with a plan. It had felt like everything had happened so quickly. One minute they're facing a mob of Earthborn, and the next they're flying wildly across the desert. Oh, by the way, Percy's amazing explosion has now covered most of Tartarus in a land-locked ocean. It was a lot to take in, seeing how the whole scenario has taken place within five minutes. The current problem, however, was trying to figure out where to head now.

With a bit of tugging and pulling on Riptide, the sword came loose from the chunk of rock. Annabeth looked into the distance, expecting to see more sand or ocean. Instead, she saw trees. A wide, thick, and extremely dark forest. "You know what I see out there?" she asked Percy. "Let me guess: more sand?" "Nope, I see a forest." "What?" Percy came up the small dune to get a better look. "Well," he said, "that seems a bit random, don't you think?" Annabeth shrugged, "It's better than desert. Besides, you'd think Tartarus would be separated into different environments." "True." Annabeth looked out to the dark green trees. It would be even darker in there than out here, what with the trees looming overhead. They trekked over the dunes of sand to the edge of the forest. "Will we even be able to see where we're going?" Percy asked. "I don't know. At least we won't see anything better than we can see now. That's for sure." Percy took Annabeth's hand, then said, "Well, in that case, we'll need to stay together." He turned and looked at her, flashed her that troublemaker's grin, and they set off, guided only by their reassuring grip.

* * *

It was even darker than Annabeth had expected. Pitch black, not even a sliver of light came through the trees. Percy took out Riptide, which always cast a dim glow, but the desolate light was not enough to see their direction. When Annabeth tried to look behind them, she could not see the gap where they had entered through. It was if the entire thing had closed them off from the rest of Tartarus. No turning back now.

From the feel of the ground they were walking on, it was the same sand that they had just been on. Annabeth decided that their best bet would just be to keep walking straight, and find the exit. They continued on, holding on to each other so they didn't drift apart. It wasn't long before the sand they had grown so used to grew wet and marshy, squishy and soft. They stopped at the sudden change of landscape. "Um, that's a bit strange, huh?" Percy remarked. He bent down to feel the ground, shifting his hand in Annabeth's. "It's almost like..." he moved a little bit off the trail, "there's something here, it feels a bit like water...but thicker. Almost like..." He stood back up. "Like what?" Annabeth asked, confused. "Almost like it's...alive."

**A/N:** OK, HERE'S WHERE IT GETS CONFUSING. I AM GOING TO SPLIT THE POVS BETWEEN PERCY AND ANNABETH. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS ANNABETH WILL BE _ITALISIZED_, AND PERCY WILL BE** BOLDED**. LIKE THIS:** Percy **_Annabeth _GOT IT?THEN LET US CONTINUE:

_A split second after Percy said 'alive', I felt something wrap around my ankle, the one that had broken. It didn't feel like any kind of monster, though. It was the water, just like Percy had said. I shook it off and said, "We need to get-" _

**Annabeth was suddenly yanked right under the surface of the water. I didn't have any time to react, and I lost her hand. "Annabeth!" I yelled, and I dove under the surface of the water. **

_I was pulled right under, and lost Percy's hand. I could feel something pulling me, some kind of force in the water. _

_**Like I said, it didn't feel like water. It was just thicker, like liquid soap. **_

_I struggled against it, squirming and trying to break free. My knife wouldn't help me in this case. _

_Strangely enough, you could see better down here than above, and I saw Percy trying to get to me. I pulled as hard as I could and got my arms free so I could try to reach out to him. _

**I had trouble getting through it, and couldn't control nor breathe in it like I could normal water. I didn't care, though, nor stop and think about it. I had to find Annabeth, before I lost her again. I hadn't gone too far, when I saw her struggling against the force which had dragged her down. I think she saw me too, because she pulled her arms free and reached out. I grabbed her arms and tried to pull her back up. **

_I was temporarily freed, and dove back up with Percy. We barely broke surface again when I felt it again, and started kicking. "Percy!" I screamed, right before I was gone again. This time, though, I wasn't dragged through, more like pushed and shoved. I couldn't even see upward. _

**The muck wouldn't even let me under, now, no matter how much I tried. It was like it was pushing me back up, and more importantly, Annabeth down. And I know what you're thinking, how is the water even stopping you? The entire lake just felt like it was freezing up or something, becoming a solid barrier. **

_We were being pushed apart, and I couldn't break free or go around the opposing force. After pushing against the current, along with holding my breath for so long, I__ blacked out from exhaustion and oxygen deprivation. _

**Then as suddenly as it froze, it started melting and I broke through as fast as I could. I dove down and searched for Annabeth. I almost forgot I couldn't breathe in this water, so I returned to the surface for air, then dove right back down. Up, down, up, down. At long last, I decided it was hopeless. Annabeth wasn't down there. **

_..._

**I collapsed on the beach, exhausted. How could I have been so stupid?! I'd let her slip right through my fingertips, literally. And now, Annabeth was gone, probably forever, and it was my fault. **

**I didn't know what I was going to do now. Gaea had beaten us. With these thoughts, I finally blacked out on the shore of the cursed lake. It was over.**

**A/N: SO THAT'S IT, FOLKS! LOOK FOR THE SEQUEL, DOWN TO TARTARUS PART 2, COMING SOON! :D**


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